Heather Brewer's Blog, page 6

Dear Minions…

Greetings, my evil lil Horde members! Auntie Heather here, with something on my mind.

You know how it feels to share a really special connection with someone? The kind that inspires you to frolic through a field of dead flowers together, hand in hand, toward your shared goal of world domination? You know…like the way we feel about each other? I love that. Don't you love that? Isn't it cool that we can feel like TOTAL FREAKS when we're around the rest of the world, but cackle with glee at our awesomeness when we're together, Minions? What we have is different. It's special. It's cool. And I've been thinking about it a lot lately–thinking, my Minions, about you all. And how much I miss spending time with you.

This may, perhaps, coincide with my focus lately on the calendar for the rest of 2012. See, you can look at my Appearances page and see how light it looks, but behind the scenes, several things are in the works, several appearances are being arranged, and I can hardly wait to spend time with you. In short, I miss you! You guys complete me. You fill the void in my lil black heart. You get me. Like I get you. And I can't wait to see and hug you!

So…because I love you all so much…I'm going to hold a SPONTANEOUS MINI-CONTEST!!!

Want an advanced copy of SOULBOUND? Comment here to enter. BUT…you only get one entry, despite multiple comments…you sneaky Minions, you.

Contest ends when I blog next…and who knows how long that'll be??

By the way, you earned $111 for TWLOHA on my last blog post! But I'm gonna even it out at $200. Great job, Minions!

A Word on Positivity

Holy bitten blood bags, my Minions! If someone were to look at my blog lately, they might be given cause to think that I am a person who's all about the Doom and Gloom! Just look at all those downer posts. Blech!

I'm not a negative person. Not by a long shot. Your Auntie Heather may own an actual human skull. She may have a couch made from an actual coffin. But she is pretty much sunshine and rainbows, dancing in a shower of blood. It's true! I'm an optimist. I believe that good truly does exist in the world, that right will really prevail over wrong, that wishes really do come true. It's just that my wishes tend to involve morbid things, things you might not want to come across in a dark alley.

So why has my blog been such a source of bummer-dom lately? I haven't meant for it to. But recently I've been distracted by some medical stuff (no worries, please), which has had me under a bit of stress for a bit. I'm on the mend now, but I wanted to glance over my blog and see how that stress was affecting my words to you. Because words are important. How you use words – particularly to one another, Minions – is extremely important. Words can hurt. Words can heal. So I wanted to make certain that mine were relatively positive on the blog lately, and I came back to find…well…all of this. And it bummed me out!

I want to be a positive ripple in the pond of life, so let's do something to get that positive energy out into the world. Comment something that you love about the world. It can be anything! And for each Minion's comment before my next blog is posted, I'll donate $1 to To Write Love On Her Arms.

I'll get us started with this: I love you, Minion Horde. You make me proud. And I am honored to lead you all to our goal of world domination.

Your turn!

SOULBOUND: seeeeeekriiiitsssss

Yesterday, on Twitter and Facebook, I asked if I should blog about my writing process or about super secret details concerning my new book, SOULBOUND, today. Several people answered for either subject, but I'm in the middle of writing the second book in The Legacy of Tril, so I'm kinda in the mood to divulge secrets. I tried to think of what you'd want to know about it, and I think I have an idea. And don't worry! I'll get to writing stuff the next time I blog. But for now, here you go, Minions…ten secrets about The Legacy of Tril: SOULBOUND.

1. How many pages is SOULBOUND? 394. It's my longest book yet. And yes, I'm planning to keep all three books in The Legacy of Tril trilogy (AHAHAHA – it's a TRILogy!!) roughly the same length.

2. How many chapters is that? There are 34 chapters.

3. How many words??? You writers! Yeesh! After edits, SOULBOUND came in at around 94,000 words. In comparison, EIGHTH GRADE BITES (my first published novel) was only around 40,000 words.

4. Will this book feature a lot of death and gore? Well, I wouldn't say a lot, but it has its fair share. It also has giant, blue, scaly monsters WHO EAT PEOPLE. So…yeah. Death and gore kinda go hand in hand with Graplars (the monsters on Tril).

5. Will it feature *cue sighs from half of you and gagging noises from the other half* any romance? Oh yes. Definitely. There's a strong romantic element to this book, though I wouldn't call it a romance. It's an epic fantasy, with romantic elements. But don't expect our heroine to be one of those girls who swoons at the sight of every cute boy. Kaya's a tough, sarcastic cookie. Stubborn too. But yes…there are cute boys (way, way cute). And yes, there is romance.

6. Does this mean you're never writing about vampires/slayers/guys ever again?? DON'T PANIC! I'm serious about that. Don't go thinking that your Auntie Heather has abandoned her evil ways and changed what she's writing, simply because she decided to stretch her writing legs a little and try something different. Of course I'll write stuff for and about guys in the future. But I think, once Joss has had his say in his five-book series, that I may take a break from vampires and slayers. Maybe a long break. I don't know. I never know what pants I'm putting on in the morning, Minions. You can't expect me to know how my career will unfold over the next forty years.

7. If you were any character in SOULBOUND, who would you be? It's funny, but I wouldn't be Kaya (the main character). Though we have much in common, I'm far more like her guard (and eventual friend), Maddox. Maddox says inappropriate things at inappropriate times, and then can't seem to get why people don't see that she's just trying to help them. I love Maddox. I hope you will too.

8. When will SOULBOUND hit stores, and when is #2 coming out? SOULBOUND will hit stores this July, and the second book in The Legacy of Tril will be released summer 2013. No, I will not tell you the title. Yes, I do know it.

9. When can we read the first chapter of SOULBOUND here on your website??? Soon! I have to go offline for a while (maybe a few weeks), but when I come back, I'll see about posting that first chapter for you.

10. Awww, come on! Can't you tell us anything else?! Yes. I can tell you that, as much as I deeply adore Vlad and Joss, I have never enjoyed writing a book as much as I enjoyed writing SOULBOUND. Every round of edits was a pleasure. Every moment spent daydreaming up scenes was a joy. I love this book, these characters, this world…and I hope that you will too.

Oh…and I also loved inventing my own curse words.

See you in a few weeks, Minions!

Depression: the bad, the worse, and the ugly

Ahh…my old nemesis, depression. He and I have a long, sordid, complicated relationship, but I'll get to that in a moment, Minions. First, I want to tell you why I'm blogging about depression today.

On Facebook, a Minion said this:

hi auntie heather i have a question for you, when you where younger and battling depression how did you overcome it? I've been battling depression on and off for years now and it always seems to creep up on me. can you please tell me your awesome super ways of battling depression? thanks.

I've been receiving similar emails and messages and tweets for some time, so I thought it might be something we should discuss. But first, what is depression? According to our good buddy Merriam Webster, it's

(1) : a state of feeling sad : dejection (2) : a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies

And the U.S. National Library of Medicine describes depression as something like this:

Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods.

True clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer.

But we can all agree that depression – whether major or minor sucks. Big time. And if you think depression is a myth, or something easy to experience, then you can just stop reading right here. Because it's not. It's awful. I know first hand, as do many Minions, and it's time we discuss it. (except, of course, for the aforementioned doubters – you can all go frolic through a field of wildflowers – P.S. watch out for Cecile)

Now, Minions, go back up and reread that Minion's question. Then I'll answer it. No worries! I'll wait. *hold music plays*

Back now? Cool. Because here's the truth. And the truth, my Minions, my quirky little fans, my omnipotent, tiny lil gods, is something that your Auntie Heather will always give you. Because, while make believe is fun, the truth is important. And speaking the truth is the most important thing.

So…when I was younger and battling depression, how did I overcome it? Good question. It shows this Minion has been paying attention. Maybe they've heard me talk about my depression before, or maybe they just realize that most people go through it at one time or another. Regardless, it's a good question. How did I? Well…the truth is…not very well. Not at first.

See, I had a fairly chaotic childhood. Five house fires. A lot of moving around (mostly due to those fires). Tumultuous family relationships. An intense amount of bullying. I wasn't happy. And at the same time, I was convinced that I was somehow…wrong…weird, a freak, broken…for feeling the way that I did. I became suicidal, and felt like maybe the world would be a better place without me.

Can you imagine that, Minions? A world without your Auntie Heather? No Minion Horde. No Vlad. No Joss. No books. No jokes about bacon and its involvement in our eventual world domination. Scary, right?

But that's what depression (my old nemesis) does. He whispers things into your ear – words that fill you will self-doubt; words that inspire loneliness, anger and frustration. He lies to you, Minions. Depression will do anything to get into your head, and it's not always easy to get him to shut up.

I'm very lucky for two things: 1) That I am stubborn and 2) That I dislike pain. They saved my life. Mostly that first one, I think. Because if I'd taken my own life – if I'd done the most selfish, horrible thing I can imagine and committed suicide, then the bullies would have won. I would have just given in, given up without a fight…and your Auntie, Minions, she's a fighter. There was no way I was letting my tormentors win.

But it wasn't ~just~ stubbornness and fear of pain that saved me. It was those things that kept the Dark Place at bay for a while. Until I met other people like me, other freaky weirdos who totally dug my freaky weirdness. I started talking about my feelings, about being depressed, about the Dark Place. And they understood. And slowly, my depression went away.

Sure, he rears his ugly head up now and again. I just recently had a major bout of self doubt (oooh, a rhyme!), but that wasn't me talking and I know it. It was Depression's voice, whispering in my ear again. Lying. Again.

And he always will. I just have to see through his lies. Because I'm worth the fight. I'm the supreme ruler of the Minion Horde – the coolest people I know, and I'll be damned if some stupid little whisper in my ear is going to keep me down.

So how do I face depression now? I named him. His name is "Fuddy". And whenever he starts whispering, I roll my eyes and say (yes, out loud), "Shut up, Fuddy!" and I instantly feel a bit better. Because I'm stubborn. And I'm not going to let any bully – particularly one who lives inside my skull – win. Ever.

And you shouldn't either.

For more information on depression, what it is, and how to handle it, please go HERE, and if you're having suicidal thoughts, please call 1-800-SUICIDE right away and speak to someone about those feelings.

Also – and this is important, Minions – please understand that, to some, the only method of dealing with it is medication. And there's not a damn thing wrong with that.

I don't think that there's a person on this planet that d...

I don't think that there's a person on this planet that doesn't know what the "

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have heard me mention a big secret that I'm working on. Today, after a long time coming, I had my first big meeting about that secret, and it's finally time to clue you all in.

I, along with my amazing committee members (Vicki Erwin, Melissa Posten, Ange Flynn, and Amy Keaveny) are organizing a conference--one with you Minions, with teenagers, with outcasts in mind. It's called the

Less Than Three will take place in St. Louis, and is the first of its kind, a YA Lit/Anti-Bullying conference that will bring about some of your favorite YA authors, teens, tweens, booksellers, teachers, administrators, parents, librarians, authors and more to rally against bullying. There will also be punch and pie. (Okay, there may be punch and pie.)

The big day is Saturday, October 19, 2013. We have a long time until the conference, but I'm so, so thrilled that our official planning has begun. I hope you all can join us!

Until then…

Auntie Heather

I don’t think that there’s a person on this planet that d...

I don’t think that there’s a person on this planet that doesn’t know what the “

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have heard me mention a big secret that I'm working on. Today, after a long time coming, I had my first big meeting about that secret, and it's finally time to clue you all in.

I, along with my amazing committee members (Vicki Erwin, Melissa Posten, Ange Flynn, and Amy Keaveny) are organizing a conference--one with you Minions, with teenagers, with outcasts in mind. It's called the

Less Than Three will take place in St. Louis, and is the first of its kind, a YA Lit/Anti-Bullying conference that will bring about some of your favorite YA authors, teens, tweens, booksellers, teachers, administrators, parents, librarians, authors and more to rally against bullying. There will also be punch and pie. (Okay, there may be punch and pie.)

The big day is Saturday, October 19, 2013. We have a long time until the conference, but I’m so, so thrilled that our official planning has begun. I hope you all can join us!

Until then…

Auntie Heather

About the Forum…

This is a difficult blog for me to write, Minions. A very difficult blog, indeed. Because I know what it means to so many of you, and I know that it's not going to make several of you happy. Which sucks. Because I live to make you guys happy.

We've had a pretty amazing time with the forum here on my site, haven't we? You've met and made friends with fellow Minions. We've chatted. You've shared writing and art with your fellow Minions. It's been awesome. But the active population has dwindled, due to certain happenings (no pointing fingers here, but we did have two unfortunate unscheduled reboots of accounts), and now…well, I feel like we've come to a point where it's time to step back from things and reevaluate whether or not the forum is worth our collective time, my Minions.

Many of you don't even use the forum at all, so this news won't really affect you. But I've put a lot of thought into this (over the past year, actually), and I've decided that, effective next Friday, January 20th, the forum will no longer exist. I've already instructed my web guru that that's D-Day. If you have any writing or artwork there that you'd like to keep, please, please grab it this week, because I'd hate for you to lose it.

Am I sad about this? A little. But mostly, I feel at peace. There was a time when I was able to be on the forums several times a day. But that time shrank to the point that I was on maybe once every four or five months. You deserve better than that, Minions. You deserve my full attention. And I can give you that here on my blog, on my Twitter feed, my Formspring, and on my Facebook.

So…here's to change. Here's to the good times we had. And to the world domination we've yet to accomplish.

I love you, Minion Horde.

Spontaneous Mini-Contest Time!!!

Whew! It's been a while since we had one of these, eh? This one requires some work…and a visual.



You can also enter to win an ARC of SOULBOUND at Absolute Forest of Words!

GOOD LUCK, Minions!

2012: Last Year on Earth? Or Beginning of a Really Long Zombie Apocalypse?

If you have no idea to what I'm referring, Minions, there are people who've predicted that the world will end at the end of 2012. (Of course, lots of people have predicted when the world will end – it's apparently supposed to end every moment of every second of every day, because of all sorts of reasons, but I really don't think any of their predictions have an ounce of truth in them.) But what if it won't end? What if 2012 signifies the beginning of a new era? One filled with happiness, good will, and of course…zombies?

And bacon, of course. Can't forget that.

Anyhoo, this post really has nothing at all to do with the end of the world. I was just musing about random things. Which your Auntie Heather tends to do.

This post is actually about How I Spent My Christmas Vacation. First off, it was awesome. The fam (Paul, Jacob, The Girl, and I) hopped on a plane (okay, so we walked – the TSA doesn't take kindly to hopping onto planes) and headed to Michigan, so we could hang out with our extended family (who are just as awesome as we are – probably more). We hung out, opened pressies, ate more food than was humanly possible, and hugged so much that our eyes almost imploded! It was pretty epic. There was a horse drawn carriage ride, a gorgeous snowstorm, meeting up with a Minion who asked me to sign her book and take a pic with her, and lots of sister time for me and my fabulous sis, Dawn (who you might know from Absolute Forest of Words). All in all, a great holiday break.

Of course, the fun's not over for Auntie Heather. See, I'm blogging this from 32,000 feet in the air. I'm still on that plane home, and when we get there, Santa will come to our house. SQUEE!!!!!!

So…good times. I just hope that 2012 isn't the end of the world. Now that would put a damper on next Christmas, for sure.

Better stock up on bacon, either way.

Happy Ho-Ho-Ho, Minion Horde!